Agnes Johanna Dyrhaug Oral History Interview, 1982 PDF XML
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Dyrhaug, Agnes Johanna
- Title
- Dates
- 1982 (inclusive)19821982
- Quantity
-
3 file folders
1 sound cassettes - Collection Number
- t180
- Summary
- An oral history interview with Agnes Johanna Dyrhaug , a Norwegian immigrant.
- Repository
-
Pacific Lutheran University, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Pacific Lutheran University
12180 Park Avenue South
Tacoma, Washington
98447
Telephone: 253-535-7586
Fax: 253-535-7315
archives@plu.edu - Access Restrictions
-
The oral history collection is open to all users.
- Additional Reference Guides
-
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Agnes Dyrhaug was born on July 11, 1896 in Nord-Statland, Norway to Anton Peterson and Jette Krestine. Anton worked in a sawmill, and there were three other children in the family: Ole, Johan, and Wilhelmine. Agnes immigrated to America in 1905 with her mother, sister, two brothers, and an aunt. Her father had immigrated three and a half years earlier and lived in Astoria, OR, where he had originally come to fish and later became a carpenter. The World Fair was in Portland, OR the year Agnes and her family came, and due to the large number of travelers, the immigrant coaches of the train were left behind in Minnesota when the train got too long. After two weeks of travelling, they finally reached Astoria. In Astoria, Agnes's other siblings, Paul, Helen and Earl, were born, and the family bought a farm in nearby Napa, OR. Agnes attended school for eight years and also took a commercial course, after which she began bookkeeping for Haukes.
Agnes met her first husband, Marinus Berg, in Astoria and was married in 1917. Marinus was also of Norwegian descent and worked as a carpenter and a contractor. They continued to live in Astoria for five years and had two children, Maurice and Bonita (Foster), before moving to Portland. When Marinus got sick, Agnes began managing apartments and later worked for the Portland Housing Authority. Marinus passed away in 1939, and Agnes later remarried Peter Dyrhaug. In Portland, Agnes attends Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and is a member of the Sons of Norway. She has also been a demonstrator for Nordic Ware and Chicago Cutlery, which involved demonstrating making Norwegian foods from Seattle to San Francisco, CA. Agnes has returned to Norway twice and believes that her Norwegian heritage is very important.
Lineage
IFull Name: Agnes Johanna Dyrhaug. Maiden Name in Norway: Agnes Johanna Ovesen. Maiden Name in the U.S.: Agnes Johanna Peterson. Father: Anton Peterson. Mother: Jette Krestine Pettersen. Paternal Grandfather: Ove Pettersen. Paternal Grandmother: Hannah Pettersen. Maternal Grandfather: Peter Pettersen. Maternal Grandmother: Indianna Pettersen. Brothers and Sisters: Ole P. Peterson, Johan H. Peterson, Wilhelmine C. Peterson, Paul A. Peterson, Helen O. Williams, Earl N. Peterson. Spouse: Marinus Berg, Peter H. Dyrhaug. Children: Maurice A. Berg, Bonita J. Foster.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
This interview was conducted with Agnes Dyrhaug on May 21, 1982 in Portland, Oregon. It contains information concerning family background, emigration, work, marriage and family, community activities, and Norwegian heritage. The interview also includes an article in Norwegian from the Western Viking concerning Agnes's eighty-fifth birthday and her nomination to Gerda Farestrand's committee on the Oregon Arts Commission. The article also gives an overview of Agnes's life, including emigration, schooling in Astoria, Washington, marriage, involvement in Scandinavian organizations, meeting Crown Prince Olav, and employment with Nordic Ware and Chicago Cutlery. The interview was conducted in English.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
The partial interview transcription highlights important aspects of the interview. Numbers may be used as guides to important subjects. Two numbers separated by a slash indicate that the first number is for cassette and the second for CD.
| Container(s) | Description |
|---|---|
| Cassette | |
| 180, side 1 | 018: NAME She lists her name, Agnes Johanna Ovesen Peterson Berg
Dyrhaug. Ovesen was her maiden name when she was in Norway but it was changed
to Peterson in the U.S because it was easier to spell. Dyrhaug means "animal
hill." Her husband's name is Peter Larsen Dyrhaug. |
| 180, side 1 | 080: PERSONAL
BACKGROUND Born on July 11, 1896 in
Nord-Statland, Norway which is between Namsos and Trondheim. |
| 180, side 1 | 095: AREA
OCCUPATIONS There was a sawmill, fishing,
and farming. |
| 180, side 1 | 100: PARENTS Both of her parents had the Peterson, Pettersen name. Her
father worked in the sawmill. |
| 180, side 1 | 116: BROTHERS AND
SISTERS Ole, Johan, Wilhelmine, and Agnes
were born in Norway. Paul, Helen, and Earl were born in the U.S. |
| 180, side 1 | 135: GRANDPARENTS She remembers her maternal grandmother could read,
but she wasn't wealthy enough to learn to write. Paternal grandparents lived
with them. |
| 180, side 1 | 229: FAMILY HOUSE Downstairs there was the kitchen, living room, pantry
and a bedroom. Upstairs there were three bedrooms. The house has since
burned. |
| 180, side 1 | 242: CHRISTMAS IN
NORWAY She recalls the first Christmas
her father was away. Her mother was a seamstress. For Christmas everyone got
clothes and were bathed. For Christmas Eve they had rommegrøt, but it was so
expensive that some would have rice pudding with a layer of the cream pudding
on top. They had a Christmas tree, lefse, pastry. |
| 180, side 1 | 328: 17TH OF MAY Parades with flags. |
| 180, side 1 | 338: BUSINESS IN THE
AREA They had two grocery stores and
shipped out a lot of lumber. They also made prefabricated houses, which were
shipped up north where wood was scarce. This was in 1903 or 1904. There were a
lot of French and Spanish ships that came in to get wood for boxes. |
| 180, side 1 | 384: SCHOOL IN
NORWAY She went one year. |
| 180, side 1 | 386: TO AMERICA She came in 1905 when she was nine. She came with her
mother, sister, two brothers, and her aunt. Her father had been in the U.S. for
three and a half years. He had come to fish in Astoria, Oregon. He later became
a carpenter and also bought a farm in Napa (?), Oregon, which is near Astoria.
|
| 180, side 1 | 410: FEELINGS ON
EMIGRATION She didn't want to come, but
she was with her family so she didn't think too much about it. Her brothers
couldn't wait to come. She heard lots of bad stories about America. |
| 180, side 1 | 438: NEW YORK 1955 She ran into a lady who thought that the Indians were
still running around with bows and arrows. |
| 180, side 1 | 468: LUGGAGE Brought clothes and the going away gifts they got. The farm
was sold. They weren't allowed to bring food. |
| 180, side 1 | 500: SHIP TRAVEL They were treated like cattle. Eleven days to cross
the ocean. Her father had sent the money for them to take second class passage,
but her aunt decided they had to go third class. She tells about how she was
almost blown off deck during a storm. |
| 180, side 1 | 581: NEW YORK She saw the Statue of Liberty and Castlegarden, and
got on the train on the same day. |
| 180, side 1 | 597: TRAIN TRAVEL This was in August and the World's Fair was being
held in Portland, Oregon that year so there were a lot of people traveling and
when the train got too long their cars were left behind. They were in the
immigrant coaches. They ran out of food with them on the train. In Chicago and
in St. Paul, Minnesota, Norwegians came to the depot and asked to take them out
to dinner. Came to Astoria, Oregon, but came first to Rainier. The first time
her brother saw toothpicks on the table he thought Americans ate wood. |
| 180, side 1 | 676: LANGUAGE Her mother had worked for some people who had been in
the U.S. so she could speak a few words. She found a restaurant, but could only
say coffee. A man came who spoke Norwegian helped them. This man knew her
father and wired to tell him when they would arrive. |
| 180, side 1 | 725: ARRIVAL IN ASTORIA,
OREGON After two weeks of travel. They
crossed the longest trestle in the U.S. in Astoria. She didn't recognize her
father and her youngest sister was born three months after he left. Her father
was a carpenter then. |
| 180, side 1 | 757: SCHOOL IN
OREGON After two weeks she had to begin
school. There were lots of children which had parents that didn't speak
English. In one section of town you couldn't even buy anything unless you could
speak Finnish. |
| 180, side 1 | 776: PREJUDICES She felt some prejudice in school since she had a
hard time with the language. After about nine months she started to feel at
home and started using English. |
| 180, side 1 | 835: LANGUAGE Her mother didn't learn much English until they moved
to the farm and there were a few Norwegians around. |
| 180, side 1 | 840: CHINESE
COMMUNITY There was a large Chinese
community, but she really didn't have contact with them until she started
working. |
| 180, side 1 | 846: SCHOOL Went for eight years. High school lasted two years and she
took a commercial course. |
| 180, side 1 | 854: BOOKKEEPING Went to work bookkeeping and worked for the Haukes
until she was married. |
| 180, side 1 | 858: MEETING SPOUSE They met in Astoria. She had known his brother for a
long time. He was a Norwegian by the name of Marinus Berg. Berg means
"mountain." |
| 180, side 1 | 874: WEDDING It took place on the farm in the apple orchard. She wore a
white wool suit. They went to Portland for their honeymoon and stayed with her
brother-in-law and returned by boat to Astoria. Her husband was a carpenter and
a contractor. |
| 180, side 1 | 898: They lived in Astoria for five years after their wedding
(1917-1922) then they moved to Portland. Her husband came from Norway to the
U.S. by working on a ship and then jumped ship in the U.S. |
| 180, side 1 | 923: CHILDREN Son was a pilot in WWII. He got to work in the
Pentagon and for the U.S. government in Europe while stationed in Germany. Her
daughter, Bonita Foster, lives in Seattle and has five children. Agnes has one
great grandchild. |
| 180, side 1 | 956: WORK Her husband got sick so she had to earn the money. She
started managing apartments and later started working for the Portland Housing
Authority. Then she got married and her husband decided she had worked enough.
|
| 180, side 1 | 1011: CHURCH LIFE She always goes to church. Now she goes to Holy
Trinity Lutheran Church. There are a few other Scandinavians that go there. |
| 180, side 1 | 1015: ORGANIZATIONS Belongs to the Sons of Norway. Her first husband sang
with the Multnomah Mannskoret. He died in 1939. |
| 180, side 1 | 1029: VISITS TO
NORWAY She has returned twice. The first
time she returned was after 50 years and there was a lot of change. Many people
spoke English. She still corresponds with Norway. |
| 180, side 1 | 1041: NORWEGIAN
PEOPLE They were hard working and had to
struggle to make ends meat, but now they have changed. Now they have oil and
they dress well. |
| 180, side 1 | 1060: IMPORTANCE OF NORWEGIAN
HERITAGE She talks about Norway being
ruled by Sweden and that they were all Swedes at the time that she came. |
| 180, side 2 | 098: She continues talking about Sweden and its rule over Norway.
There were no battles and Norway was allowed to have its own king. After this
they changed to name of Kristiania to Oslo. |
| 180, side 2 | 165: NORWEGIAN
LANGUAGE She says in Norwegian that she
can still read, write, and speak it. Her daughter can speak a little Norwegian.
She had to take Norwegian when she went to St. Olaf College. It was required if
your parents were Scandinavian. Bonita's youngest daughter took Norwegian at
the University of Washington and speaks it well. |
| 180, side 2 | 197: RELATIVES She has her brothers and sisters and their families
here. She had some cousins back east which she has lost track of. |
| 180, side 2 | 220: SPOKEN
NORWEGIAN She recites the Lord's Prayer.
She says this every night. |
| 180, side 2 | 270: CONCLUDING
COMMENTS She has had an interesting life.
She took census one year. She has been a demonstrator for the two Minneapolis
companies, Nordic Ware, and Chicago Cutlery for about twenty years. She has
demonstrated all the way from Seattle to San Francisco, California. She
demonstrated by making Scandinavian foods. |
| 180, side 2 | 339: SONS OF NORWAY Finance Secretary for eleven years, treasurer for two
years, district board for six years, and has attended conventions in Chicago,
Minneapolis, and California. |
| 180, side 2 | 357: They discuss a picture of her husband's home, which is
hanging on the wall. |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
- Subject Terms :
- Christmas
- Emigration and immigration
- Family--Norway
- Marriage service
- Norwegian-Americans--Ethnic identity
- Norwegian-Americans--Northwest, Pacific--Interviews
- Norwegian-Americans--Social life and customs
- Ocean travel
- Railway travel
- Personal Names :
- Dyrhaug, Agnes--Interviews (creator)
- Foster, Bonita Berg
- Pettersen, Ove
- Berg, Marinus
- Berg, Maurice
- Dyrhaug, Peter
- Peterson, Anton
- Peterson, Jette Krestine
- Pettersen, Hannah
- Pettersen, Indianna
- Pettersen, Peter
- Corporate Names :
- Chicago Cutlery Consumer Products, Inc.
- Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (Portland, Or.)
- Nordic Ware
- Sons of Norway (U.S.) Grieg Lodge No 15 (Portland, Or.)
- Family Names :
- Berg family
- Dyrhaug family
- Ovesen family
- Peterson family
- Pettersen family
- Geographical Names :
- Astoria (Or.)
- Nord-Statland (Norway)
- Portland (Or.)
- Form or Genre Terms :
- Oral histories
- Occupations :
- Bookkeepers
- Carpenters
- Sawmill workers
